Software Development, Technology and Innovation

Mugs are Important

I just finished reading this blog entry by Clarke Scott. I don’t think Clarke needs clinical help, in fact, for me, mugs are extremely important. The first mug I ever received was from Caboolture State High School just before I finished up working there (Caboolture, Queensland) and moved down to Melbourne.

This mug followed me around from job to job while I was contracting before I started getting back into hardcore coding and found I needed something bigger. I’ve toyed with the idea of taking it out for a run again but to be honest I am afraid of it going missing. My first contract after moving down from Queensland was rather stressful because every few days the cleaners would take the cup and put it in one of the several kitchen areas in the building – grrrr.

Around the time I stopped using the CSHS mug Nicola and I went and purchased some large coffee mugs from Bunnings because the mugs we used at home had a fairly impractical design (triangular handles and vessel). It was also around this time that I moved from a pure contracting into more of a consulting role which meant that I usually changed sites on a regular basis – no point introducing my mug to a new home that it would only be in for a week.

Fast-forward to last Christmas when I got a pleasant surprise in the mail. It was this ASPalliance mug that Steve Smith sent to me. It was as big as the Bunnings mugs so it became “my” mug at home. Unfortunately I left it out on the coffee table the night before I went away on a business trip and my little princess got her hands on it and broke the handle.

I still can’t bring myself to throw it out, especially since I think that if I can get a strong enough glue I can fix it up so it is good as new. That brings me to my current mug, and the reason I was inspired by Clarke to make this post. Its actually a Starbucks mug that I purchased while I was delivering a training course for a client on George Street in Sydney. The Starbucks down the road was the only place I could find a mug at short notice.

At the time the client had just finished moving from another premsises and access to hot liquid storage facilities was limited. This mug was perfect because some parts of the course required me to talk for quite a long time without a break and this way I would have enough tea to last. The problem was that by the end it started to get a little bit cold.

So to finish up – mugs ARE important, don’t be ashamed Clarke – I suspect there are other developers out there with similar stories.

2 thoughts on “Mugs are Important”

It’s great for conferences, you know. All you have to do when some annoying half-witted manager talks is sip very loudly from your mug with the text directed at him and hope to God he gets the message. ;)